In Lieu of Preclusion: Reconciling Administrative Decisionmaking and Federal Civil Rights Claims

It is the thesis of this Article that, in the absence of exceptional circumstances, courts should refuse to give preclusive effect to agency determinations in subsequent litigation of claims arising under any federal civil rights statute, regardless of whether state courts would do so. The need for finality and repose must be balanced with the need to insure vindication of civil rights claims. What is needed is an alternative to preclusion, one that will preserve the values of informality and expediency served by administrative agencies, without sacrificing litigants' rights to a federal forum for vindication of federal claims not resolved through agencies' alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. Such an alternative, however, must allow for appropriate deference to agency determinations.